ment and the public in this country, have not always been the best requited. Mr. Cochran, in all human probability, would have been a far more prosperous man at the time of his death, if he had simply followed his profession, and had never served government at all,

RIGHT HON. LORD SYDENHAM, K.G.C.M.

THIS great man, to whom we undoubtedly owe the existing union of Canada, was born at Wimbledon, in 1793, and was the eldest son of Mr. J. Poulett Thompson, of Rochampton and Austin-friars, and brother of George Poulett Scrope, Esquire, late M.P., for Stroud, who on his marriage in 1821 assumed the arms and name of Scrope by sign manual. When about twenty, he became resident in St. Petersburg as the correspondent of his father's firm; and until his accession to public office in 1830, he continued to be connected with the mercantile business. He represented Dover in the House of Commons from 1826 until 1830, when, being returned both for that borough and Manchester, he took his seat in Parliament as member for the latter influential manufacturing town. A reputation for commercial knowledge, a readiness of debating powers, and a zealous devotion to his party, recommended Mr. Poulett Thompson to Earl Grey's notice, and when, in November, 1830, that statesman was called on to form the reform administration, he was appointed vice-president of the board of trade and treasurer of the navy, and was sworn in a privy councillor on the 23rd of November. In July, 1834, he became president of the board of trade, and resigned with Lord Melbourne's administration in November following. In April, 1835, he resumed that office, in which he continued until he was selected to succeed the late Earl of Durham as governor-general of Canada.

As a cabinet minister, Mr. Thompson's principal efforts were directed to simplify and amend the customs laws. He attempted to negotiate a commercial treaty with France; but when he fondly anticipated that his agents had achieved the task, he found that all his efforts had been thrown away, and that the French government repudiated the concessions of their employès. Mr. Thompson was deeply mortified at this result, and pertinaciously refused to resume the negotiations unless the French ministers would define an outline of details by which they would be bound; this they refused to do. Mr. Labouchere (now Lord Taunton), his successor at the

board, did resume these negotiations without such preliminary stipulations.

On Lord Seaton's recall from Canada, Mr. Thompson was appointed to the supreme government of British North America. He arrived at Quebec on the 16th October, 1839. On the 19th he assumed the reins of government; and soon afterwards visited Montreal and other parts of the country, holding sessions of the then existing legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada. On the 10th of August, 1840, her Majesty was pleased to elevate the governorgeneral to the peerage of the United Kingdom, by the title of Baron Sydenham, of Toronto, as a mark of approbation of the manner in which he conducted the important government entrusted to his care. On the 20th of May, 1841, his lordship, while still in delicate health, left Montreal for Kingston, for the purpose of opening the first session of the united legislature of Canada, but which, from the alarming character his indisposition had assumed, he was only destined to close by deputation.

Lord Sydenham had slowly conquered the distrust of the Canadians, and under his administration prosperity gradually re-dawned on our noble province. The union of the two provinces was skilfully commenced by him-an attempt was made to develop their great resources by completing the public works indispensable to their prosperity; and the name of Lord Sydenham will be preserved in connection with Canada for time immemorial.

He was appointed a knight grand cross of the order of the Bath on the 19th of August, 1841.

His excellency, whilst riding near Kingston, on the 5th September, 1811, met with a fatal accident by the falling of his horse. His right leg was broken, and at the same time a deep and painful wound was inflicted just above the knee. For about a week after, he appeared to be going on tolerably well. On the 13th, however, spasms came on, first in the leg, and afterwards in the stomach and throat. The prorogation of Parliament had at first been fixed for the 15th September, and subsequently, at the request of the Assembly, postponed till the 17th; and during the 16th the governorgeneral was employed in giving his decision on the several bills which had been passed, and in revising the draft of the speech, which, at his desire, had been prepared for him. On the morning of the 17th, his illness increased so much that he was obliged to put off the prorogation, and after consultation with his medical advisers, he determined to prorogue the Parliament by deputation. General Clitherow, being the senior military officer at Kingston, was selected for the purpose, and prorogued the Parliament on the morning of the 18th, at twelve o'clock, giving, at the same time, the royal assent or reservation to the bills which had all previously received Lord Sydenham's decision, and almost all of them his signature. On the night of the 17th the symptoms were fearfully

aggravated, and even those who had before hoped most, were forced to confess that hope was now vain. He was perfectly conscious of his own state, and about two o'clock on the 18th, he, together with all his establishment, received the sacrament. He then dictated to Mr. Dowling his will. To all his establishment he left some token of his regard. He desired to be remembered to Lord John (now Earl) Russell, to whom he bequeathed a memorial of his frendship, and when that part of his will was read over to him, he exerted himself to say, with emphasis, though interrupted by violent spasms in the throat, "Dowling, Lord John is the noblest man it has ever been my good fortune to know." He then took leave of all individually, saying something kind to each. To Mr. Murdoch, his civil secretary, he expressed a wish that he should write the history of his administration in Canada. He repeatedly mentioned his continued interest in our country, and his satisfaction that the Parliament was prorogued, the great constitutional measures he had devised and proposed to Parliament passed into law, and the purposes of his mission accomplished. To his private secretary, Mr. Grey, late member of Parliament for Tynemouth, he said, "Good bye, Grey; you will defend my memory. Mind, Grey, you will defend my memory!" He then spoke kindly to Major Campbell and Mr. Baring, adding (motioning with his hand to all)," Now leave me alone with Adamson (his chaplain, and the chaplain and librarian of the Legislative Council) to die." The rest of that day and the whole night were spent by him in prayer and conversation with Dr. Adamson. During this period he suffered very much, but it was not until seven o'clock on Sunday morning that he breathed his last. There can be no doubt that the severity of the two winters he passed in this country, acting on a constitution not strong, alone rendered him unequal to bear the effect of an injury not otherwise of a fatal character.

In compliance with his own request, his remains found a fit resting place among the inhabitants of that town (Kingston), which owed to him its selection as the capital of United Canada. His funeral took place at Kingston, on the 23rd September. The occasion was observed as a day of mourning, the shops were closed, business suspended, and the greatest respect paid to the memory of the departed and great hearted nobleman. Immediately after the funeral, Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Jackson was sworn in as administrator of the government.

Lord Sydenham died unmarried, and his peerage expired with him.

We make the following extract from the life of this distinguished nobleman, edited by his brother (C. Poulett Scrope, Esquire, M. P.) and published in London in 1843:

"Lord Sydenham died at the age of forty-two; an age at which the public career of many statesmen is only commencing, of few

is more than half accomplished. Had his life been prolonged, and a stronger constitution permitted him to continue to devote his talents and experience to public business, few living men, perhaps, would at this time have commanded a larger share of the confidence of the community, or possessed, whether in or out of office, a greater influence over the course of affairs, by which the national welfare is determined.

"No man, we often hear, is long missed; his place is quickly filled, and the world goes on as before, or as it would have done had he not left it. In the case of Lord Sydenham, he had, in fact, for the two years previous to his decease, been withdrawn from the immediate focus of British politics; and, though the report of his brilliant administration in Canada excited much warm admiration among his friends in this country, and extorted praise and respect even from his political opponents, still a public man, who is lost sight of for two whole years in the centre of the political arena, runs much chance of being forgotton altogether.

"Had he, however, been permitted to return from Canada, Lord Sydenham's own energies and persevering anxiety to forward the march of improvement must, under any circumstances, have secured to him a high position in public estimation. And the tendency of events, since the period of his quitting England, has been precisely of a nature to render his peculiar qualifications of more than ordinary value and importance in the conduct of public affairs. From the epoch of the decease of Mr. Huskisson, he had been generally looked up to as the leading advocate of the doctrine currently known as that of free trade; and of the important, and till of late disputed principle, that the industry of a country thrives best when left to its own devices, uninterfered with by legislative and fiscal shackles, imposed for the pretended object of encouraging and protecting it. He had gone further than Mr. Huskisson himself had ventured in laying down this great principle, and in recommending it for adoption, as a state maxim. He had never wavered for an instant in the expression of his opinion in its favor, nor in a fearless determination to act up to it, so far as a just regard to circumstances would permit ; and he had, in fact, vigorously and indefatigably striven to carry it out into practice during nine years of official power. He endured, without flinching, the savage storm of ridicule, calumny, and misrepresentation, which from the countless organs of the various monopolies was daily, weekly, and monthly poured forth upon him, as previously upon Huskisson, for daring to make war against their darling system of (miscalled) protection; and this at a time, when those, who now claim the credit of having always supported the principle of commercial freedom, either opposed him, or at the best stood coldly and silently aloof, and left him to bear the full weight of the odium then attaching to its advocacy. And now

events, which his sagacity long since foresaw and predicted as inevitable, had brought about a crisis in the commercial and economical history of the country, in which the full application of this principle could brook no longer delay, if the nation was to retain its pre-eminence in wealth and power, and be preserved from impending ruin,-a crisis in which the leaders of the very party that had for years past thwarted and calumniated the efforts both of Mr. Huskisson and Lord Sydenham to liberate trade from the restrictions of the 'protective' system, were forced to come forward and admit the soundness of the doctrine they had so long allowed their followers to revile unchecked, and the necessity of far more largely acting upon it than they had permitted their political opponents, when in power, even to propose with any chance of success.

"As this crisis approached, and before Lord Sydenham's death, many who saw with dread the blackening of the horizon, and heard the threatenings of the coming storm, looked with anxiety for the expected return of one whose experience and judgment was, in their opinion, well fitted to cope with its emergencies, and exert, even out of office, a salutary influence in the national councils on its occurrence. And their regret was proportionately severe, when this hope was destroyed by his premature and melancholy dissolution.

"Nor, whatever sincere respect we may entertain for the abilities of those who now hold the foremost rank in that noble contest into which he, with them, would have so warmly entered, as into his natural element, had his life been spared, can it be gainsayed that no one individual among his survivors united so many of the peculiar qualities, which he possessed for successful service in this particular cause. His comprehensive and liberal views of commercial policy were founded, not upon the book-learned theory, caught up from the suggestions of pamphleteering economists, but upon extensive practical acquaintance with commerce, and an experience gained in the superintendence through many years of the whole range of the commercial interests of this mighty empire: with this, an intimate acquaintance with finance-habits of order and business-indefatigable application-the confidence of practical men, built upon a long intercourse, and, moreover, the tact, judgment, and prudence taught to a mind of great natural sagacity by a long and intimate acquaintance with parliamentary tactics. and ministerial responsibility.

"Possessing the acknowledged qualifications, had Lord Sydenham returned to England with the additional reputation acquired by his brilliantly successful administration of Canadian affairs, where being isolated from all others, his individual abilities had been brought out the more conspicuously, it cannot be questioned that he would have commanded a high position in public opinion,